Two Sides Of The Same Coin (The New City Catechism #11)

 When we use the idiom, “two sides of the same coin,” we often mean there are two subjects closely related to each other and even part of a larger category or topic. With this understanding we can make the point that many of the Ten Commandments are two sides of the same coin. Such is the case with the three commandments we look at this week in the eleventh question and answer in The New City Catechism, which reads:

What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments? Answer: Sixth, that we do not hurt, or hate, or be hostile to our neighbor, but be patient and peaceful, pursuing even our enemies with love. Seventh, that we abstain from sexual immorality and live purely and faithfully, whether in marriage or in single life, avoiding all impure actions, looks, words, thoughts, or desires, and whatever might lead to them. Eighth, that we do not take without permission that which belongs to someone else, nor withhold any good from someone we might benefit.

 As the catechism suggests, the sixth commandment (“You shall not murder,” Ex. 20:13) not only prohibits us from taking a life without just cause and prohibits us from engaging in thoughts and actions that tend in that direction (we are not to hate another, Mt. 5:21-26), we also are to love others as ourselves (Mt. 7:12; 22:39). Similarly, the seventh commandment (“You shall not commit adultery,” Ex. 20:14) not only prohibits us from sexual immorality, but also calls us to pursue sexual purity. Finally, the eighth commandment (“You shall not steal,” Ex. 20:15) not only prohibits taking without permission what is not ours, but also calls us to generosity.

 One final way these commandments address two sides of the same coin is that they not only call us to live righteously, but they also show us the way to genuine well-being and happiness. Consider these biblical statements:

…keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good…. (Deuteronomy 10:13)

 

[Happy] is the [person] who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. (Psalm 112:1-3)

 

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

 Joyfully keeping two sides of the coin of God’s will with you,

 Tom